The information on the city budget was not open public

On December 13, the correspondent of Informburo.kz Serikzhan Mauletbay and other journalists were not allowed to attend the meeting of the maslikhat (local authorities) of Almaty, where the  budget for 2019 was to be discussed.

At first, the journalist was informed that he was not on the media list, then he was said that he was late.

As it was announced on the official website of the maslikhat of Almaty, the meeting was scheduled for 10 AM. However, it began half an hour earlier. The head of the maslikhat’s office, Maksat Rakhmetov, informed S. Mauletby that the time of the meeting was changed at the request of the city akim (mayor) B. Baybek, and the press release on the results of the meeting would be available with the akim’s press service. However he could not answer the journalist’s questions why no one cared to inform media about the changes.

According to S. Mauletby that was not the first time when maslikhat and akimat (mayor’s office) of Almaty intentionally prevent media from covering socially important problems of the city life.

"Adil soz" comments:

In accordance with the art. 6 of the Law "On Access to Information", the dissemination of information on spending budget funds is not subject to any restriction. Journalists are free to choose the method of obtaining information and decide whether to use a press release or to attend a maslikhat meeting.

Journalists who were not able to attend the meeting due to the fault of the city akim are entitled to request the minutes of this meeting, and to appeal to a court in case of refusal.